As many of you know, I am living in enemy territory and it has been hell. They harass me, they throw things at me, and they've tried to start fights with me.....

Now I am usually relatively quiet when it comes to football with some other people. But a freind of mine in my English class got into an argument with me......

"Ray Rice= overrated RB who has carried your team through the playoffs. Without him you wouldnt have won a single game here"

So as usual I am lmao. Saying Rice is our most valuable weapon. He can kill you running and recieving.

(btw, this is not the Raider guy)

Well, as usual, the 69er guy says.

Flukeo is least clutch QB in the entire NFL, and while Kap is top 5 in that regard, Rice is the reason you won all those games.

I told him that Kap is overrated as hell, hasn't faced a defense that is smart, savy, and hard hitting.....

But come to think of it, Rice is a HUGE REASON why we have gotten this far.

Teams are trying to take away the run game. Most teams do know that Rice +30 touches usually= success. Teams are taking that away, and daring air Joe to throw. And air Joe has taken huge advantage of that. He has outplayed every QB he has faced in the playoffs. He is near elite (thats for another thread though).

Vs. the 49ers, the best run D in the nfl, they will try to take him away as well.

So, I figured that We need to use Ray in a different way.

This is what we are going to do, we are going to repeat THEIR history.

That Defense can be beaten with short passes. The run game isn't going to work, I think this is what Jim is planning, They invented the West Coast offense, let's improve with "Flacco to Rice" (get it, because it was Montana, another Joe cool to Rice). I don't think any LB can really cover Ray as a reciever out of the backfield. And we all know that Ray catching it, could be a big play going toward their endzone. He is (usually, I don't want to jinx it with the F word) a sure handed guy in caching the ball, and securing it. And while the 49er LBs are FAST enough to stop him, he is too quick for them.

I don't expect us to take deep shots all game, rather the short pass method. Which every now and then Jim runs. But I expect to see a lot more of Rice in this game as a reciever with Vonta in the back protecting Joe (He's gonna need it). Rice will be a huge factor in this game, not as a runner, but as a reciver out of the back.

That should make of from the lack of Running Production that he will have. Unless Vonta wants to beat up Willis again like he did last year .....

What they dont think about is how relevant those carries were. Did Rice get 30 carries because we were in shutdown mode and protecting a lead? If we win 95% of the time when Rice carries the ball 20+ times, what does that stat really mean?

This will be a tough matchup for Rice, he's more of a big splash play runner and could have trouble moving the chains early in the game. Hopefully we mix it up and get a lot of yardage out of both our HB's.

Having Rice is definitely a big upside to our formula, but also whats also good is the fact that we have a significant 1-2 punch rushing attack in Rice-Pierce. they compliment each other very well, with the offense never losing a step or beat when either or ...switches out for some rest. both players ability to avoid and break would be tacklers for YAC (yards after contact) is huge. with the O-Line operating and widening holes , the excellent 1-2 punch will be allowed to maneuver around more and use their vision to evade. Pierce did mention that with the way he runs the football, he uses his peripheral vision to anticipate tacklers and therefore allowing him to escape and pick up those big gains.......... Rice with his ability and short stature, and speed, its not only a mis-direction from one spot to the next in a split second, its the fact of the defense constantly having to adjust to trying to tackle the shorter man to adjusting again and tackling the taller guy. throughout the game...... our rushing attack CAN be lethal from all aspects (yards, speed, breaking tackles hitting holes) IF ..IF we maintain and establish a steady flow .

First, whoever those people were invalidated their argument from the word say go. Ray Rice is over-rated, but he carries the entire Ravens team to victory? The next time that person uses the word "over-rated" you need to tell him/her "I don't think that word means what you think it means."

As for the rest, whatever. The people in San Fran have caught the fever just like the people in Denver did with Tebow. Reason means nothing to them, so I don't even bother. What's the point?

What I do find interesting is how arrogant a huge percentage of the fans of the teams we've played so far have been. It's like they can't conceive that they could possibly lose. Up to this point, every forum I've been on before a game, every single one was looking past the Ravens to who their next opponent would be. Time and again they bought into the media's take on it (especially Denver and NE). Then they lose and it's meltdown time.

Do we have some of that arrogance, sure .. there are people totally convinced we can't lose but just like this thread I mostly see people evaluating our chances and just not homering up. Whatever, let them talk .... makes their disappointment taste that much sweeter.

Having Rice is definitely a big upside to our formula, but also whats also good is the fact that we have a significant 1-2 punch rushing attack in Rice-Pierce. they compliment each other very well, with the offense never losing a step or beat when either or ...switches out for some rest. both players ability to avoid and break would be tacklers for YAC (yards after contact) is huge. with the O-Line operating and widening holes , the excellent 1-2 punch will be allowed to maneuver around more and use their vision to evade. Pierce did mention that with the way he runs the football, he uses his peripheral vision to anticipate tacklers and therefore allowing him to escape and pick up those big gains.......... Rice with his ability and short stature, and speed, its not only a mis-direction from one spot to the next in a split second, its the fact of the defense constantly having to adjust to trying to tackle the shorter man to adjusting again and tackling the taller guy. throughout the game...... our rushing attack CAN be lethal from all aspects (yards, speed, breaking tackles hitting holes) IF ..IF we maintain and establish a steady flow .

Bingo! Having Pierce to complement RR is what could make the run effective against a tough run D like sf. Ray has struggled at times without a clear hole, but with Pierce spelling him and pounding in there as well it could keep Ray fresh and weaken the D.

Bingo! Having Pierce to complement RR is what could make the run effective against a tough run D like sf. Ray has struggled at times without a clear hole, but with Pierce spelling him and pounding in there as well it could keep Ray fresh and weaken the D.

I run into a lot of niners fans, but most of them are friendly and do a little bit of good natured trash talking. This guy just sounds like an idiot.

I'm kinda with Fly on this one. We have to make niners respect the deep ball. Torrey can beat their corners so they will probably leave a safety over top most of the time. If we can get him isolated we need take advantage. From a running standpoint I want to see a lit of Pierce and Rice.

Rice is a stellar back, anyone who says otherwise doesn't know what they are talking about.

If Ravens can use Rice efficently, thus controlling the clock and slowly tiring out the 49ers D... I would be surprised to see 49ers win this one in that scenario. Rice will be a huge piece to this game.

I run into a lot of niners fans, but most of them are friendly and do a little bit of good natured trash talking. This guy just sounds like an idiot.

I'm kinda with Fly on this one. We have to make niners respect the deep ball. Torrey can beat their corners so they will probably leave a safety over top most of the time. If we can get him isolated we need take advantage. From a running standpoint I want to see a lit of Pierce and Rice.

I think the Niners generally scheme to prevent giving up big yardage on deep balls. I still think it would behoove the Ravens to take shots downfield and of course, they will, because they've been successful with that. But the 49ers pretty much ALWAYS rush four and leave two safeties deep. Goldson and Whitner tend to go for big hits and INTs, but they've become very good at their game. The 49ers also hardly ever blitz, preferring to just let their LBs read the offense and act accordingly.

True, Rice is probably the best pass blocking HB in the league. As for matchups I would still take a Boldin and Pitta jumpball over Willis and Bowman any day.

Whoah.. what? Rice one of the best pass blockers? No way. He'll stick his nose in there ... but I think that's a bit of a stretch. Where he's valuable is the quick chip on a pass rusher, and then the dumpoff reception.

Pierce is more of a threat in this game, IMO. He seems to have more initial burst then Rice when coming through a hole and he's deceptively fast on the edge. I may get dinged for this... but his style... just his STYLE reminds me of AP.

"Ray Rice= overrated RB who has carried your team through the playoffs. Without him you wouldnt have won a single game here"I don't get this statement ... How can someone be overrated AND carry a team to the Superbowl?It's one or the other buddy, even if he did carry us to the Superbowl, how is that overrated?

Pierce is more of a threat in this game, IMO. He seems to have more initial burst then Rice when coming through a hole and he's deceptively fast on the edge. I may get dinged for this... but his style... just his STYLE reminds me of AP.

No dings from here, I thought of AP the first time I saw Pierce rambling through the D. Hope he can stay healthy.

The more you think about it, with imaginative play calling we have developed into one bad offensive machine!